Alcohol Stove Fuel Comparison

Backpacking Alcohol Stove Fuel Comparison. Compare of HEET, ISO-HEET, denatured Alcohol and EverClear Grain Alcohol. Blog post with details of results at: http://backpackbasecamp.blogspot.com/2010/05/backpacking-alcohol-stove-fuel.html http://backpackbasecamp.com

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Backpacking
• Alcohol Stove Fuel Comparison
• Alcohol stove
• hiking
• HEET
• ISO-HEET
• denatured Alcohol
• EverClear Grain Alcohol.

[sqbimmer]

Were all the alcohols you used fairly new with no water absorbed? Also I agree, need to use optimal pot height for each fuel to get a proper comparison.

[RLMorris42]

@sqbimmer Yes, all the alcohol was just purchased, as far as I know it had no water in it. Pot height was the biggest variable.

[RJBURG]

scottinhim is right drop down pot stand about 1 in. and use a wind screen

[RLMorris42]

@RJBURG Interesting idea, i'm going to lower the stands and try it again when I have time. I didn't use a wind screen since I was inside and all three were subject to the same wind so I figured that was a constant in the test.

[scottinhim]

Great video! The ISO burns dirty, but it delivers its heat best at the pot height you have chosen. The clean, fast burning methanol is possibly heating air well below the pot surface, making it less efficient. You might try the same comparison with the pot stands one or two "squares" lower. Also, the isopropanol is known to have more heat value per gram, so it should burn the longest.

[RLMorris42]

@scottinhim Interesting idea about the the distance from the flame effecting the different fuels differently, i didn't think of that. I'll try it again and lower the stands and see what happens.

[Doggieman1111]

Not sure why you're so blown away by these results. Iso burns hottest, ethanol second hottest, and methanol third hottest.

[ascetic43]

I keep a Visine bottle full of Everclear in my bag as back up fuel, or in case I just wanna get hammered on drop-shots. Cheers.

[MrBushLife]

good experiment...but dude..you gotta go to the dollarrama and get yerself a camera tripod...your shakin like a bitch , way to much..did yah nip at that grainy or what ?? LOL nicely done withthe experiment.

thumb s UP.. !!

[sneakyninja273]

iso-heat may boil the water faster, but not many people want to clean off the soot on the pot or pan afterwards

[snowstargazer]

BLACKENED Pot!!! The black pot absorbs heat much faster than the clean shiny pot. The dirty yellow flame is full of unburned carbon which is deposited on the relatively cold pot. The carbon then makes for an extremely efficient heat transfer.

If iso has more calories per gram, it is not being used due to the unburned carbon, which makes the tall dirty flame reach the pot better.

I agree that the methyl flame was so clean and short that the pot needed to be much lower to get the heat from it.

[bluemountaindrivepae]

Grain alcohol is the best. Methanol and methanol fumes are toxic. Isopropal burns dirty.

[bluemountaindrivepae]

You can get 91% isopropal alcohol. It will work in a stove but will stink and blacken the pot.

[WaterfrontBoss]

To close ild say the flame hasn't combusted all the way and your not getting the full btu ideal you should be at the full potential of it's btu to far you get sooting n byproduct probley also with slightly less btu

[WaterfrontBoss]

There right its all with the Hight from the flame. It's your not getting the most efficiency out of the different types of fuels. To close the fuel hasn't all the way combusted ideal is its just all burned to far ya gonna get more byproduct.

[89gtu]

Great research I was looking for the right fuel and you answered my ? Thanks